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He is not flamming subaru it's just that subaru is going in the wrong direction I don't blame him for looking at other options, subaru has not really been standing behind there products nor focusing on there performance line up. All they care about is the $ and you can see it in there cars look how thin these new firewalls are on the 08 09 wrxs and stis I have never seen such poor welds and thin metal in my life. I have owned 3 wrxs/stis (9year span) in my life time and I will also consider other option on my next vehicle purchase even though I have been a loyal subaru owner for 3 years. Subaru better wake up and realize people have stuck with subarus for years for the soul fact they built rally bred performance vehicles which were built of quality and participated in races which proved there performance and quality.

I am curious, does this mean that the WRX/STI is basically going down hill because they'd rather do poor/sloppy work on those models and improve their SUVs to make more money? I only ask because I have been looking into getting a new STI but it seems the last couple months anything to do with Subaru WRX/STI they've terminated. I'm not some pro who knows it all, this is just an honest question if I should even buy the 2014 or 2015 STI or just move to another vehicle.

”We are terminating the Subaru Road Racing Team and NJMP relationship as we refocus our efforts toward Rally and GRC,” commented Michael McHale, Director of Corporate Communications for Subaru of America.

You guys need to think of this as a business decision, and likely a good one. Subaru has built a name for itself in RALLY. I didn't even know Subaru had a road racing team until just now. What does that tell you? Subaru isn't generating enough buzz from the money they're putting into the road racing team to justify the expense. That (really) sucks for the road racing team that got cut, but you need to consider where they're going to be dumping the extra money. As stated in this quote, Subaru will be focusing on Rally.

THAT IS A GOOD THING!!!

That means the 2014 WRX line will be participating in rally. Likely WRC.

its a damn shame.... Well this answers my question as to why they weren't at the 24 hours.....Shame on you Subaru...

They weren't at the 24 hours because they don't race in that series, the article had it wrong as well. SRRT Phoenix actually did race that Friday (I was there), in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, with an early retirement yet again. I can semi-understand why Subaru pulled out, the car was constantly plagued with mechanical problems and bad luck. It can't be good to hear Dorsey Schroeder say every race "Looks like the Subaru's day is done again, it's too bad they had a good run going". As the article states, Grand-Am didn't help either, you could tell the STi was giving up a lot of straight line speed to the other cars.

You guys need to think of this as a business decision, and likely a good one. Subaru has built a name for itself in RALLY. I didn't even know Subaru had a road racing team until just now. What does that tell you? Subaru isn't generating enough buzz from the money they're putting into the road racing team to justify the expense. That (really) sucks for the road racing team that got cut, but you need to consider where they're going to be dumping the extra money. As stated in this quote, Subaru will be focusing on Rally.

THAT IS A GOOD THING!!!

That means the 2014 WRX line will be participating in rally. Likely WRC.

Subaru is going in the wrong direction. They need to do both rally and road racing. No one really cares about rally here in the US. It's about NASCAR. Grand am is competing with them and I believe it's getting more popular.

This is SOA talking not corporate so the thought of them going into WRC is null. Fuji industries needs to make that decision.

Rally cross is not a spectator sport. Its an inexpensive, simple way for anyone to have a fun and memorable day of racing, even in a grocery getter. Last weekend I raced on top of a frozen solid lake with the BCRA. Lame was the last word anyone there would have used to describe it.

But who am I to say. Some people like baseball. And Nascar. <shruggs>

Subaru will not get behind little grassroots rally x events. If they get back into rally it will probably be WRC. The trouble is the lack of coverage on TV really. The nature of proper rally is very difficult to capture. And most people, sadly, would rather watch people play cards on TV than rally. Thanks poker.

How can anyone say Subaru is going in the wrong direction? Who cares about race cars so long as they build interesting and quality vehicles with a nod to enthusiasts. We have the BRZ and it is amazing, and will get better. They announced the WRX and STi will be its own separate model...meaning...it will continue! And oh hey...a new Forester is coming out and the XT model will scoot to 60 in 6.2 seconds. Yea...Subaru is going in the wrong direction...oh please.

You want a company going in the wrong direction? Go look at Hondas/Acuras.

Whoever said no one in the US really cares about rally is dead wrong. It has a huge following. You just dont see it becuase it's not aired on tv like moronic nascar.

I really doubt they will be doing WRC any time soon. More like national level like Rally America. But capturing rally is not difficult.... the coverage of WRC looks just fine to me, I don't see why Rally America can't do the same.

Whoever said no one in the US really cares about rally is dead wrong. It has a huge following. You just dont see it becuase it's not aired on tv like moronic nascar.

I really doubt they will be doing WRC any time soon. More like national level like Rally America. But capturing rally is not difficult.... the coverage of WRC looks just fine to me, I don't see why Rally America can't do the same.

Those are some big statements.

Rally in comparison to Nascar? Really?

You can't compare it, never going to happen.

Rally has a STRONG following, not a huge following.

Even on a good day, A full blown rally event might pull in 1/10th the amount of patrons that one Nascar event would pull in. You get to see each rally car for what, a max of 10 seconds per stage if you're lucky?

Think about the advertisement exposure. Think about how much camera time a rally car receives in comparison to a Nascar race car.

Nascar is designed that way for a reason - maximum exposure / endorsement profitability. NO company is going to shoulder the burden of that team exclusively... nor should they be expected to.

In times of financial recession, frivolous spending on race teams very few can afford to watch anyways is just plain foolish.

That means the 2014 WRX line will be participating in rally. Likely WRC.

Bad news guys, SOA does NOT have a damn thing to do with WRC. This was a SOA spokesman talking about SOA.

SOA is also not going to dump money on Rally or GRC.
What the SOA spokesman really meant was “We are selling soooo many cars to the GLBT, Soccer Mom and geriatric crowds that we don’t need to spend any money on the performance car crowd anymore.”

I’ve had performance Subarus since 1986 and this (08 STI) will probabily be my last Subaru. And no, I’m not impressed by the SubiYota.

You are all acting like aliens aimed a death ray at any Subaru on a road course and made them disappear.

Full factory supported teams ended in NASCAR years ago, but NASCAR lives on. Now it's all about sponsorship money. NASCAR is a great venue for sponsors - lots of TV coverage, and you get to see the cars the whole time they are running around those big circles like dogs chasing their own tails. (My apologies to NASCAR fans - I'm not one of them.)

The current teams running Subarus will continue to run them as long as they can attract sponsorship money. There are certainly enough performance parts in the aftermarket available.

As has been stated, this is a business decision. Dollars spent vs. return on investment. Compared to overall sales numbers, the WRX / STi market segment for Subaru is a mere blip on the sales chart.

Rally cross is not a spectator sport. Its an inexpensive, simple way for anyone to have a fun and memorable day of racing, even in a grocery getter. Last weekend I raced on top of a frozen solid lake with the BCRA. Lame was the last word anyone there would have used to describe it.

But who am I to say. Some people like baseball. And Nascar. <shruggs>
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I'm talking about global rallycross. it's spectator sport and on a closed course... Usually a NASCAR type speedway that they modify with dirt and Tarmac. Subaru may think this is the future...getting the likes of Dave Mirra and Bucky Lasek, ex Xgames pros who don't have car racing roots or should be driving rally cars. (the only guy I have respect for is Travis pastrana for the x gamers and he's doing NASCAR full time now not sure about rallycross)

Money. WRC has helicopters fly in to retrieve tapes from remote video crews so they can get the video logged and cut in time for a same day broadcast. Even if you ignore the same day broadcast, the demands of filming a rally event properly (even with, say, a week-long delay in coverage) appears to be outside Rally America's ability these days. Stadium events alone take 4-6 cameras to shoot properly and that's with cars going roundy-round. Rally, one camera gets one corner and they're done for the day.

Enthusiast videos are your best bet for R-A coverage for now (and even that is pretty limited)

I haven't really followed the team, but I met Dave Rosenblum several years ago when I was getting my WRX EcuTek tuned. I didn't know who he was at the time until the Subaru magazine did an article on ICY/Phoenix and I saw his picture in the magazine. I just knew that somebody with some serious money to spend was getting a race car dyno'd while I was waiting my turn.

Unfortunately, my tuner left to work full time for the race teams shortly after that. Not sure what he's up to now, but I'd love to see him come back to the area.

*** EDIT: Just looked him up, and I guess there's not much chance of that happening. Looks like he's set up his own shop in VA: http://www.dieboldautosport.com/. Not much of a website, but the dude can definitely tune anything!

It sucks that Subaru is forgetting why we all have and do buy their cars. If they turn into a Toyota as someone suggested, I'm sure they will make a ton of money. However they don't have the heritage anymore. You don't see soccer moms modifying their vans or logging onto forums to talk about their vans. Sure they meet on weekends but it's not about the van. Stupid kids.

SOA is also not going to dump money on Rally or GRC.
What the SOA spokesman really meant was “We are selling soooo many cars to the GLBT, Soccer Mom and geriatric crowds that we don’t need to spend any money on the performance car crowd anymore.”

I’ve had performance Subarus since 1986 and this (08 STI) will probabily be my last Subaru. And no, I’m not impressed by the SubiYota.

SOA actually implemented pretty significant positive changes to their Rally America contingency program for this year. SOA is definitely providing the most backing behind any Rally program in America right now. On top of that they have been doing quite a lot with the Puma/Subaru GRC team in terms of marketing and events.